Living in Key West

Two kinds of people live in Key West. Those who love it, warts and all. And those who hate it and plot everyday to get off the island. If you’re not in love at first sight, you’re not likely to shrug off the challenges the longer you’re here. In short, (cliche coming) love it or leave it.

7 ways to move here

How does one move to Key West? There are lots of toss-off answers, like “marry rich” or “rob a bank,” but I decided to take this seriously. Here’s how one prepares to move to Key West.

Why would you leave?

Everyone dreams of living in Key West, a place where everyone knows why you’d move there. What most folks rarely stop to think about: Why would anyone up and leave? And they do. Lots of them.

North to Miami? Nope

Did you know you head east when you drive to Miami? Not north. East-northeast. And mostly east. Trust your eyes at sunrise. Well, except for a couple of stretches like that right turn in Big Pine, which is due south.

Living in Key West | How hard can it be?

Heck, you’ve vacationed in Key West for years. You know all about the island mystique — and on an island you don’t even have grass to mow. So, let’s find out if you’ve got what it takes to live here.

Hurricane Irma

It’s hurricane season

The official hurricane season is June 1-November 31, which is pretty much the whole year, because we prep in May and hope to heaven there are no late storms in December. No local ever takes hurricane season lightly, especially if we’ve weathered an earlier one.

Florida anole on porch

Hidden charms & secrets

Lizards. Iguanas. Roaches. Floods. Heat wave alerts. Hurricanes. Power outages. Crashing cell service. No water. No parking. Traffic headaches. Neighbors so close you hear their toliets flush. It’ll make you crazy. And, yet we can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Key West home repair

Homeowner tips

Wow. You own (or rent) your personal piece of paradise. So how come you’ve got bugs, mold and mildew? How come the like-new air conditioning needs to be replaced? Home repairs and maintenance in a sub-tropical environment are not for the faint of heart.

Hurricane season demands

preparation all yearlong

 

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Florida anole on porch

No one tells you

about the roaches

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The things every Key West

homeowner should know

 

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Florida hurricanes Ian cleanup

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